


Luck of the Irish

by Asian_Aaron_Samuels



Category: American Gods (TV), American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Genre: #relatable, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Character(s) of Color, First Meetings, I mean it's probably not far off but whoops, M/M, Meet-Cute, SaJinn, Salim accidentally came off as a really soft gay, Salinn, Sweeney's potty mouth, bc this is the kind of "Canon Divergence" I enjoy, gratuitous cameos of the Sisters bc why not??, ish, look this is messy like Czernobog and his Sisters are their neighbours, now it just seems Salim low key (ahahaha) has a crush on Shadow, so... beware of that, to be fair my first draft involved a super Shadow/Salim scene so it had to be fixed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-01 23:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10931970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asian_Aaron_Samuels/pseuds/Asian_Aaron_Samuels
Summary: That AU where Salim is Shadow's roommate, Shadow and Sweeney bone, they have weird European neighbours, and the leprechaun's lucky coin grants anyone good fortune.





	Luck of the Irish

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I was bored and I love this book/show.
> 
> By the way, for the sake of me not fucking up a language, let's just pretend the italicized text is SaJinn speaking in their native tongue, 'kay?

Salim's woken up by an incessant hammering at the door and he groans. No doubt it's Mad Sweeney looking for Shadow. That's usually how it goes anyways. Sweeney gets shit faced and comes to the apartment for late night booty calls, forgetting all about the cell phone Shadow gave him and making so much racket that the European family below their unit gets upset.

He reluctantly drags himself out of bed to answer the door, taking a half second to look into Shadow's vacant room. Upon not seeing his bulky form, it dawns upon the older man that his roommate was away indefinitely. There's a strange sadness that fills him at being alone in the apartment while the other man is away with his incorrigible boss Mister Wednesday. He'd only been living in Shadow's modest apartment for a few months but he felt this pull to him like two Marionette dolls with their strings tangled up.

The banging ceases when the audible click of the deadbolt fills the air like a gunshot. No sooner than that Mad Sweeney's pushing into the apartment and surveying the room.

"Shadow isn't here," the Muslim man states tiredly, "He's out of-"

"I fucking know he's gone, dipshit."

The shorter of the two shrinks away, Salim didn't particularly care for Sweeney, mostly due to his foul mouth and even fouler behaviour. Still, ever the salesman, he conjured a tiny smile for his unwanted unexpected house guest.

"What pray tell brings you to my doorstep?"

"He's gotten himself into some fuckin' trouble, so hold this for me, cunt brick," the redhead leans into Salim's space and for a second he fears that the Irishman will take a bite out of his nose.

The man leaves, slamming the front door as he goes, getting angry thumps from below. Miss Zorya Vechernyaya will not be nice to him tomorrow. Salim goes to lock the door and returns to his room. He flicks on the lamp by his bed to get a good look at the coin. It looks like gold, pretty and shiny, something he'd never imagine would be in Sweeney's possession.

The crazy Irishman's words repeat on a loop in Salim's minds and in an instant he's scrambling to find his phone to call Shadow. He counts the rings until the bodyguard picks up.

"'Lim, what's wrong?" the other man asks, voice heavy with sleep.

"Mad Sweeney stopped by, he gave me a coin and told me to hold it for him. Shadow, he said you were in trouble.."

"It's his lucky coin," Shadow yawns into the receiver and Salim feels like an asshole for calling about a stupid, lucky coin. "He's just being paranoid. It happens sometimes."

"He scared me," Salim breathes out, it feels good to speak honestly knowing Shadow won't judge him.

"Don't worry about it, 'Lim. I'm fine, Wednesday's fine, nothing's wrong. Just.. keep the coin with you, don't let it out of your sight. I'll be back in a week and I'll take it off your hands. Is that okay with you?"

He feels a weight leave his shoulders at the thought of Shadow coming home. Salim apologizes for waking him up and says he'll see him soon before hanging up. With Sweeney's lucky coin still in his hand, he tucks it under his pillow like a child would their tooth for the fairy and goes back to sleep.

The next morning after Mad Sweeney's ominous visit, one of his frequent customers at the pawn shop he works at brought him lunch. On day two, Zorya Polunochnaya knocked on the living room window from the fire escape and invited him to watch the stars and drink hot chocolate that honestly was too rich for his taste. The third day brings him an impromptu day off when his boss notices how slow the customer traffic is, so Salim takes advantage of the nice weather and does some sight seeing. Day four involves a couple of scratch tickets he bought on a whim at 7-11 that totaled up to $140 in free money. Five days and he gets a call from his sister saying the family is planning a trip to America to see him.

When day six finally rolls around, Salim began to question his stroke of luck. He wouldn't exactly say he was unlucky, but he certainly wouldn't disagree with you. Prior to moving in with Shadow, he had half a mind to tuck his tail between his legs and go home. And he had been ready to, if it weren't for the niggling feeling in his mind to check the web for apartment listings, scroll down to the eighth link, and call the listed number to ask if he could see the available room.

Still, while his life had improved since becoming the black man's roommate, the great fortune as of late could only be dated back to Mad Sweeney's late night visit.

Almost like the coin was sentient, Salim felt the weight of the gold coin in the breast pocket of his shirt. As instructed, he kept Sweeney's coin on his person at all times. The idea that the loony alcoholic's coin might indeed be lucky made a bubble of mirth rise in him.

With day seven, Salim Xs out the day on his calendar and he leaves his bedroom to start his morning ritual of brushing his teeth and making his way up to the rooftop for his morning prayer. Zorya Utrennyaya was already tending to her garden on the roof next to her younger sister's telescope. She nods in greeting and he returns the gesture with an easy smile as he lays down his mat down facing Ka'bah and begins his prayer.

He opens the apartment door and is greeted with the sight of the infamous Irishman sleeping on his couch. A quick glance to his right and he could see that Shadow's door was closed and beyond that the bathroom door was as well. Salim grinned in spite of himself and hurriedly put away his mat and set about making a large breakfast. While he spread marmalade on toast the bathroom door opened up.

"Good morning, welcome back!" Salim chirped, still immersed in his task.

_"Your hospitality is astounding, and your enthusiasm is infectious."_

Salim's head whipped up quickly, surprised by the unfamiliar voice. The man standing before him was wrapped up in a long towel to his knees. His body was toned, not muscular like Shadow or Sweeney's, but the hard lines definitely drew your eye to them. Salim felt his eyebrows raise at the simple dark shades the half naked man was sporting. Had he been wearing them in the shower?

 _"Oh, hello,"_ Salim replied lamely.

 _"Shadow said it was all right if I used your shower,"_ the other man stated, gesturing at Shadow's door.

_"Of course! I'm sorry, I didn't know he'd be bringing a guest. I would have cleaned up."_

The stranger steps forward into the kitchenette, water dripped down his form onto the tiles. His left hand kept a grip on where the towel was tucked into itself at his waist while his free hand extended to Salim.

_"Ibrahim, an acquaintance of Wednesday."_

_"I'm Salim, Shadow's roommate,"_ he takes the hand in his and gives it a good, practiced shake. Not too forceful, not too soft, perfect for any respectable businessman. _"I don't mean to pry, but what brings you to our apartment?"_

Ibrahim pushed the bridge of his sunglasses up his face, _"Long drive from where our mutual friend picked me up. We got here while you were out, so I haven't had a chance to check into a hotel."_

 _"You're more than welcome to stay here,"_ Salim blurted out, a fiery blush consuming his cheeks at what he'd just proposed.

_"Thank you, I'll consider it."_

_"I'm making breakfast, can I interest you in some toast? It's all I've made so far."_

The taller man's lips pursed, _"I accept your offer."_

Salim grabs a plate and places two slices of toast, one with marmalade and the other with butter, and handed it to Ibrahim. He thanked him in Arabic and lets him get back to the task at hand. By the time the younger man's cooked up a fair bit of turkey bacon and eggs for everyone, his guest has made himself comfortable at the breakfast nook.

There was a calmness to it all, like this was a part of his routine. Sure, occasionally Shadow came to the nook half dressed, his prison mentality throwing away any concern about showing so much skin. But this wasn't Shadow and he wasn't kinda-sorta-quite possibly attracted to Shadow.

He looked over his shoulder to ask if the other Muslim man would like some eggs. When his eyes landed on Ibrahim, he had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing.

_"What is it?"_

_"Your beard, you could feed birds in the park with it."_

Ibrahim reached up with his free hand to shake the crumbs out of his beard while the other man laughed loudly.

Shadow, probably drawn to the noise, exited his bedroom, "Salim, hey, I was wondering when you'd get back from the roof."

The aforementioned male turned his gaze away from the other Muslim man to smile at Shadow, only for his expression to drop and a horrified look to take over. No matter how tough Shadow was and appeared, he was still as vulnerable as the best of them. And from the beating he must have took, his assailants tried hard to prove that point.

"Shadow!" his roommate exclaimed, eyes wide and worried as he took in the welts and bruises decorating Shadow's face.

"I'm okay," the dark skinned man assured, "Nothing worse than what I got in prison my first year."

Salim's lips pressed together in a firm line. He hated that sort of logic. Whoever said 'what didn't kill you made you stronger,' was an idiot and a sadist. Or a masochist. Either proved his argument.

"That's not the point. For Allah's sake, you need a safer occupation, Shadow Moon."

"Yes, Mom," the black male joked, "Bet if I had Sweeney's lucky coin I would've been okay." 

"His coin," the older male digs into his pocket and produces the piece of gold. He crosses the room to hand it to Shadow, who promptly made it vanish from sight.

"Amazing," Salim laughs.

"I'm sorry to break your lucky streak."

He could tell Shadow was being sincere, that's just who he was and he liked him all the more for it.

"I wouldn't say that," he blushed again, thinking about the man sitting not two feet away.

"I see you've met Ibrahim," Shadow's chin jerked towards their guest.

"Yeah, and I made breakfast."

"Fucking finally," Mad Sweeney announces, leaping off the couch with agility that surprised Salim (considering he thought he was hungover and knocked out), he eagerly dove for a stool and piled food onto a plate. "Come on, kids, wouldn't want Sal's efforts to go to waste."

The bodyguard shrugged and nudged the shorter man before taking the seat next to Sweeney, leaving the seat on Ibrahim's left for him. Shyly, Salim hops onto the free stool and busies himself with making his plate. As he digs into his eggs, he realizes just how close he is to the half naked man who didn't seem to mind one bit.

A wave of contentment washes over him and he doesn't miss the weight of Mad Sweeney's gold coin in his pocket. All things considered, Salim thinks he's pretty lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my lovely birdies! Let me start by gloating bc I love this fic idea. *pats myself on the back* And with this insufferable heat, I count that as a double win for even writing when all I wanted to do was lay in front of my fan and sleep.
> 
> Although if I'm being honest, the ending was hella rushed and I want to die and Ariana Grande isn't good muse music right now.
> 
> Well in the end, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> All my love,  
> Robin~


End file.
